Well now having had what I would call a fair introduction to TSW (aproximately 15 hours over the 2 weekends), I am pretty much standing by my original comments.
The combat is simplistic to the point that if it was not an online game, you would be basically disgusted with it as a 3rd person RPG. The actions of the guns and the graphics associated with shooting are just infantile and do not in anyway serve to make you feel like your weilding a powerful shotgun or assault rifle, let alone one imbued with mystic power. The mystic powers themselves are unimaginative and are basically just the usal series of wooshy blue and orange clouds of light with dull effects both visually and in their physical effect on enemies and the environment.
More time has been spent applying the concept of a secret code to the game mechanics than it has to the storyline.
On the left normal MMO terms, on the right TSW "revolutionary" equivalents.
- Buffs=States
- Debuffs=States
- Skill trainer=Liason
- Levels=Your skill points
- Powers=Your skill points (so actually we have less MMO elements not more)
- Actives=Active Skills (they must have run out of alternate words by this time)
- Passives=Passive Skills (more revolutionary ideas)
- Exploiting States=Wait till your team members buff or debuff before attacking... wow never seen that before either NOT
I guess if Im sounding like I dont like this game, its because basically after spending 10 years listening to Funcom Devs talk about how they are setting the world on fire when they havnt done anything half imaginative since AO, is just getting on my nerves.
The simple fact is this is a great IP with a ton of potential. The environments are perhaps the one thing I will give them as being good. The attention to detail in the world is high and the graphic style fits the genre well. But like AO that is not enough to save exceptionally average gameplay and an almost complete lack of any feeling of purpose or attachment to the universe.
If you found Matrix Online difficult to immerse yourself in when you find yourself "secretly" running around with 300 other stocatically moving noobs chasing the same 3 rats up a drainpipe like secret societys are nothing more than timeless pest control operators with similar clothing then rejoice, this is your game.
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